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Regency Acts
The Regency Acts are Acts of the National Council passed at various times, to provide a regent in the event of the reigning monarch being incapacitated or a minor (not yet a young adult). Regency Acts were passed only when necessary to deal with a specific situation. The Fifth Regency Act made general provision for a regent, and also established the office of Counsellor of State, several of whom would act on the monarch's behalf when the monarch was temporarily absent from the realm. This Act forms the main law relating to regency in Wessex today. The Fourth Regency Act When Princess Anne, The Duchess of Uxbridge succeeded her cousin, Edward V, to become Queen Anne I of Wessex. She became monarch while she was a young adult. The next in the line of succession was her son, Prince William, who was the current Duke of Cornwall in the sovereign Duchy of Cornwalll, as Salic Law prevented Anne becoming Duchess of Cornwall. William, who was later created the Crown Prince of Wessex, was only a child at his mother's ascension to the throne, and in the event of her death he would require at Regent to act on behalf of the King during his minority. The National Council therefore passed the Regency Act which provided for Prince George Bagration, The Duke of Uxbridge and St. Andrews to rule as regent until the eldest child became a young adult. The Act did not require a Regency Council to operate alongside Prince George, potentially giving him more power than earlier proposed regents. The Act was fairly controversial at the time, as the Welsh people were suspicious of Prince George and he was generally unpopular in the National Council. However Anne lived well into old age, in any case, Geroge predeceased her, so he did not become regent. The Act would have prohibited the monarch from marrying during the regency without written consent from the Regent and both houses of the National Council, and made it high treason to marry the monarch without such consent, or to assist in or be concerned in the marriage. The Act also prohibited the regent from giving royal assent to a bill to change the line of succession to the throne, or a bill to repeal or alter the Third Act of Succession. Lord Justices Act As Crown Prince William was also the Duke of Cornwall in the sovereign duchy of Cornwall, Crown Prince William often departed the Wessex to take up his role in Cornwall. This meant that for most of the year the heir apparent to the throne and his children would reside abroad. Although they would almost certainly return to Wessex in the event of Anne dying, it would take some weeks for this to happen using the transportation avaliable at the time. To provide for the continuation of government in such an instance, the National Council passed the Lords Justices Act (long title: An Act to provide for the Appointment of Lords Justices in the Case of the next Successor to the Crown being out of the Realm at the Time of the Demise of Her Majesty). This Act did not provide for a specific regent to be appointed, as it was expected that the new monarch would arrive in the country within a reasonable time. Thus the Act provided only for Lords Justices, including such people as the Duke of Worcester and the Lord Chief Justice, to take up some of the monarch's duties. Unlike the powers granted to prospective regents in previous legislation, the powers of the Lords Justice were more limited; for example, they could not dissolve Parliament or create peerages. As William was present in Wessex at the time of his mother's death, the Act was never put into effect. The Fifth Regency Act As an elder William II, as King, often suffered from periods of illness that left him unable fulfill all of his duties. After a serious bout of illness, in which many thought the King might die, but later recovered but in his weakened state was unable to preform all of his duties a new Regency Act was needed. Rather than pass a specific Regency Act relating to the incapacity of William II, the National Council passed the Fifth Regency Act, which provided for the incapacity or minority of all future monarchs. It also repealed the Lords Justices Act, and established in statute the office of Counsellor of State, to be appointed during the monarch's absence abroad, or temporary illness not amounting to complete incapacity. The Act required that the regent should be the next person in the line of succession who was: * a young adult or older, * a Welsh subject domiciled in the East Anglia, and * capable of succeeding to the Crown under the terms of the Third Act of Succession. The Counsellors of State were to consist of: * the consort of the monarch and * the next four people in the line of succession over the age of 21. Thus, at the time of the passing of the Act, Crown Prince George of Wessex would have become Regent in the event that King William II were unable to fulfill his duties. Section 4 of the Act prohibits the regent from giving royal assent to a bill to change the line of succession to the Welsh throne or to repeal or alter the Third Act of Succession. Regency Act under George II Most of the provisions of the Second Regency Act ceased to be applicable as children of George II were all under age. The sole provision of the Regency Act that is still relevant is the counsellor of state could discharge the royal perogative and how those individuals were selected. When King William II died and was succeeded by his son, King George II. With his eldest son and heir apparent, Prince George, just only a teen, the Fifth Regency Act would provide for the next person in the line of succession who was at least a young adult, the King's brother, The Prince Philip, The Duke of Chelsea, to act as regent. However, although a regency was already provided for, the National Council made a new law creating a provision specific to the scenario of the succession to the throne of a son or daughter of King George II and his wife, Queen-Consort Sophia, while still under the age of 18 years. That provision, which ceased to have any relevance in law once all children of George and Sophia reached adulthood, was to the effect that Queen Sofia, if living, would act as regent in case of an underage succession to the Crown by one of the children born of her marriage to King George II. Furthermore, if a regency was necessary during George the Great's reign, the Queen would act as regent if the King had no eligible children or grandchildren. Regency Act under George III George III's brother, The Duke of Uxbridge, became the new Regent of the country during a period that became known as the Regency. It wasn't until the death of King George III at St. Andrews Lodge, The Regent succeded to the throne as King William III of Wessex.